History of TVs

 I chose to write about the history of the TV, since it ties in very closely with my own subject of the history of video games.

I learned that the earliest precursor of the TV was Paul Nipkow's Electric Telescope in 1884, which used his patented Nipkow Disk to display a series of images.

Next came the Cathode Ray Tube in 1897, which used an electron beam and magnets to project an image onto a screen. They weren't commercialized until the late 1930's but remained popular until the early 2000's when they were replaced by LCD screens. This is relevant to video games as well, since the earliest games were played on primitive CRT screens (with a “Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device” even being patented in 1948 by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle R. Mann), and video games continued to evolve alongside TV technology. 

The Iconoscope, invented in 1923, was another essential part of the history of TV's, being the first portable camera designed specifically for TV broadcasting. 

BBC began incorporating regular TV broadcasts via its new expanded service, the BBC Television Service in 1936, moving away from its previous exclusively radio based service. 

Lastly, I learned TV's impact on the world included great advancements in both news and entertainment, creating a whole new medium that information could be conveyed on. I also learned that it raised concerns over depictions of violence and graphic content, particularly for children. This stood out to me because video games raised (and continue to raise) those exact same concerns, and a lot of research has been done on both topics. These issues were actually addressed at pretty similar times, with the ESRB being established in 1994, and the Telecommunications Act was implemented in 1996, forcing TV shows to have ratings. TV, overall, has had profound effects on both information and entertainment, that was dominant for over half a century before being shaken by the Internet and portable devices.